Clutch



flame; i I

To all w ham itmag conc em 5' a citizen of the Uiiiteclystates, and resident driving member isyrotated i in one direction,

i and for allowing ii'freey rotary inovementr of thedriven member when the v drivingmeinl I ber is held stationary; or rotatedfata speed-i less-than the speed'of' rotation ofthe' driven In: vehicles;

mechanism that could be attached" thereto-L signed the clutch mechanism ii' oriningv the between the driving arid, ,'dr iven ,me mbjers" is obtained, and a free coasting operationof fthe driven member is also. obtainedywhen the driving member .is held stationary Or rm tated at a less speed thanthespeed of the." driven member. Also, in' prior; structures, wherein it was attempted to connect a ,driv

'ing and a driven member together bys-rneans of an outwardly moving cam, the construction of the connectingmeans was such" as to" actually prevent the desired movement of the I 1 carn.i,I have also ,remediedthis defect in prior structures, and have] so devised the connecting means between the vdriving and driven members as to facilitate the outward MARK w. c'HIrMAN,--;oi; NN;nassacatsam;zrssma a-t i scnnwl" 1 country, on LYNN, MASSAQBQUSETTS? a conro wr on orfi vrassAcrrusn r'rs;

" inovenient the Cam into the" of, movement of the, driven member.-' t I Theobjectof rn'yfinventiontherefore is-' *connectingga drivingfand a driven nienl'b ber s' are rotated inthe. same 7. direction; and

mechanism in position, to allow free {rotary a I 3 "-'-inovement' thereof with respectftofthei fdi'iv-l such-as coastingvehicleszfor w I 1 children; I or in lawn, mowers; 5 it c has been difficult to: devise ai clutch 'mechan'i'sro' that"; is'bot h efficient in operation and simple and' economical to manufacture", Inflight :v'ehicles, such. as 17116? abdve,; where: Q the"'questiioni of cost-oi manufacture is ofivital importance,

a complicated clutch mechanism expensive to 'manufacture,, mdCwhich has ,lhe-retoforc :been necess ary,g has precludedlthei introducfti'on of this :t'ypet'of clutchi :Invc'hild rens ficOaSters in particulargv where the'wheels arclf light wire 'Whee1s,' ;it"ihas -beenheretofore I practically impossible: 1 to 5 design 1 a clutch 1 the driven Ineniber;-

.;Fig;ig fl s-* 1V F g: r "Fig. is a-. development-- of, the blank "fof sheetmetal showing the portion of tli'eclutch a I have overc'ome the objections 'notedabow-fej 5 with regard to prior structures and have devgatedl hole 15 in the blank'lO isfin aline'ment" I A with the shaft 16 an improved clutch'finechanism for positivelv: I

t ogetheriwhen the driving and-driven mam; 01f

forpositivelydisconneoting suchdriving'and driven members whenthe.driving'mernber is held" stationary or rotated in thesani'e" d motion but at 'a -less speed than th'e' 'driven a i inernber. I

- In theiac'coinpany ing i T a f1 2 ".1 i Figf'l "is an elevation of afportionfoffi a wheeL for driven member, with the clutch.

ing-the' preferredaemhodiment of my} ig-Eigzsaisav ew ,similar to Fig."i'l" ,-fbut with Q I, the-vclutch mechanism {in jf-position j dr iive er'tical 3 sectional vie of niechanisrn'- attached to then-driven inernber f I Fig: 5; is, an; end "elevationo f a wheeljandfv axleto whichiny invention has been applied,, 5.

Referringlto t-hedrawingsl; designates a bl ank having a plurality of$relativelyt arin's 1 1 symmetricallyiarrangedj'there Ionand anplurality ofrelatively shortfarins 12-arranged between the arms il-l, asfshown 5i. inPF-ig.,:4 Assuming th'at it i'sfdesireditol shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3', A centralljllo-f passing through the hub lob I Attacheditogtheendi f'the shaft 16,ad 'a I tentto. the flange 14 to which the blank 10 to has been attached, is a pin 17 which, it'will fbe noted; lies in a line: parallel to a,

1051 diameter, but. does not pass through such diameter. Lo'osely mountedonthe shaft 16 11011 on the-cute? face bf the'bl hk'119a 1st, a

cam plate 18wprovided with an elongated or practically oval shaped slot 19, on one of the longest sides of which is formed a slot 20. The,..width of this slot 20 is slightly greater than the. diameter of the pin 17 and the meeting faces of such slots 19 and 20 are rounded, as shown at 21. Such rounded faces assist the pin 17 in forcing the cam plate 18 intothe driving or opera tive position shown in Fig. 2. The outer edge of the cam plate 18 is on a curve that gradually rises from the point 22 to the point the difference in the rise resulting in the formation of a driving face or edge 24% which contacts with the arms 12 to drive the wheel-13, the position of this face 2% with relation to the slots 19 and 20 being such that with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2, the face 2d is in its outward position, while in the position shown in Fig. 1, such face 2st is in its, innermost position. A nut 25 holds the cam plate 18 in operative position with relation to the blank 10. v I

If the shaft 16 is held stationary and the wheel 13rotated in the direction of the ar row shownin Fig. 1, the arm 12, engaging with the periphery of the cam plate 18 forcessa-idplate into the position'shown in Fig, 1 and the wheel 13 is free to rotate. If however, the shaft '16were rotated by any suitable means in the direction of the arrows shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pin 17 would movethe cam plate 18 into the position shown in Fig. 2, where the face 2 1 would engage one (or the other of the 12 to drive the wheel 13. It is obvious therefore,.that my improved device is a positively operating clutch mechanism that allows free rotative movement of the driven member when the drivingmember is held stationary, or when the driven member rotates faster than the driving member, as it would do if the device were attached to a coasting vehicle.

ll hile I have described the preferred embodiment of my invention somewhat in detail, it is to be understood that I may vary the size, shape and arrangement of parts constituting my invention within wide limits without departing from the. spirit of the invention. I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is

1. An improved clutch comprising, a driving member, a driving cam, an elongated slot in said cam, a second slot connecting with said elongated slot, a driving in on said driving member extendin into A; D

ating to force said cam outwardly when the driving member is rotated, and a driven member having a plurality of outwardly extending arms adapted to be engaged by said cam to positively drive member.

3. An improved clutch comprising, a

driving member, a driving cam, an elongated slot in said cam, a second slotoonnecting with said'e'longated slot, the conthe driven necting faces of said slots being rounded,-

adriving pin on said driving member extending into said second slot, on a line parallel to a diameter of said driving member and operating toforce said cam out wardly when the driving member is rotated, and a driven member having a plurality of outwardly extending arms adapted to. be engaged by said cam to positively drive the driven member.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

7 MARK w. CHIPMAN. 

